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Hitting the barre in Richmond

As a troupe of amateur, adult ballet dancers prepares for its first ever show, Paul Dylla is proving that, at 58, there’s life left in the old legs yet

Hovering in the doorway of his daughter’s ballet class, Paul Dylla had no idea his life - and limbs – were about to change forever.

Irked by 55-year-old Dylla’s proximity to her pointe session at the Richmond Cultural Centre studio, ballet teacher Miyouki Jego issued the watchful dad an ultimatum.

“Mr. Dylla, you have to leave or join in.”

Almost without hesitation, Dylla, who had a desk job as an I.T. specialist with Telus at the time, ventured out of the shadow of the doorway into the body of the room, slipped off his shoes and peeled off his jacket.

“I think (the teacher) was surprised,” laughed the now 58-year-old Dylla, when recalling the encounter three years ago.

“My daughter was probably embarrassed. I think it went OK to start; I was able to keep up, but I was surprised how unfit I was.

“But afterwards, the teacher asked me to join her adult classes. I was working from home at the time and I realized I was getting more and more unfit so I thought I would just go for it.”

And so it was, Dylla, your average middle-aged guy to the naked eye, started a beginners ballet class with Jego.

“When I was six, my sister was supposed to go into a ballet class, but got cold feet at the last minute,” said Dylla, when asked if he’d ever considered taking up ballet before.

“I told my mum I’d do it in my sister’s place, but I was told I wasn’t allowed. I guess I’ve harboured a desire ever since.

“To be honest though, if my daughter hadn’t been doing (ballet) for 15 years, I wouldn’t have been exposed to it.”

Three years on, Dylla and 10 other adults, ranging from their 20s to their late 50s – and including his 21-year-old daughter, Megan – will form the Richmond Dance Company’s performance of A Winter’s Gift at the Gateway Theatre on Sunday.

They will be joined by Richmond Youth Dance performers – also run by Jego – for their first ever, full hour, independent ballet performance, delivering 10 of the 17 pieces on stage.  

ballet
The Richmond Dance Company, including Paul Dylla (second from front), was busy preparing for its performance of The Winter’s Gift, which runs this Sunday at the Gateway Theatre. The amateur company’s ballet dancers range in age from their 20s through to their 60s. - Gord Goble/Special to the News

 

Since taking up ballet, Dylla has, shall we say, found out how fit he wasn’t and, in the ten months preparing for Sunday’s show, is stripping fitter than ever.

“At the time I started ballet, I was working in I.T. with Telus and I was sitting at a desk for much of the day. Because of that, my back and shoulders were done,” said Dylla, who has been retired since May 2015.

“I’ve done aerobics before, but way in the past. I tried to keep fit but ballet was something else.

“Doing ballet made me realize how balanced and strong you need to be and it really helped me get into shape.”

Jego said adults don’t need to be particularly fit to take part in her beginners classes; but you do for the advanced program, which leads to show performance levels.

However Jego, who has been running the City of Richmond program out of the Richmond Arts Centre for five years and eight years instructing ballet in total, said teaching middle-aged adults is a world apart from teaching children.

“It’s very, very different; the amount of corrections and the way you deliver it is different,” she said.

“With children, you have to be more careful how you correct them in terms of their body awareness and the language you use. Some may not know what their abdomen is, for example. And children tend to be more flexible.

“In order to take part in the show, (adults) definitely need stamina, as there are quite a few numbers in the show. We’ve been training for this since September.

“The adults do tend to train very hard and when they realize the magic that ballet can bring and see it in their faces, it really encourages me to keep going with them. A room full of adult (performers) is very exciting; it takes a lot of guts.”

Jego has 60 adults in the various programs, one of whom is a woman in her 80s.

As for Dylla, Jego said she was “so pleased” when he decided to join in his daughter’s class that day three years ago.

“I made a spot for him. He really did listen to everything and it was a fantastic class,” she recalled.

But has he improved in that time?

“Absolutely,” exclaimed Jego.

 

Asked how people tend to react when told that his main pastime in retirement is ballet, Dylla, of Gibbons Drive, said the initial reaction is surprise.

“I think they’re supportive, as well, and they all now realize how hard ballet is,” he said.

“The big part is making it look easy and asking your body to do things it hasn’t done before.

“The bigger surprise for people is when they learn that my wife – who also does ballet – took it up six months after me.

“The question she often gets asked is, ‘How did you convince him to do it?’

She answers with, “Oh, he did it first.’”

A Winter’s Gifttakes place at the Gateway Theatre, 6500 Gilbert Rd. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance online at GatewayTheatre.com/Tickets or by calling the box office at 604-270-1812.